A Grimm Love Story
by Phoenix-Talon
Summary: His family undergoing a financial crisis, Draco takes a job at Chase Van Helsing's potion shop encountering a furious Susan Bones who vows she'll never forgive him for the crimes he and his family have committed. Sparks fly--and not just potion sparks.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I haven't finished my previous Harry Potter fanfic and I fully plan on doing so—but sometimes these damned plot bunnies just won't leave you alone. This will be about ten chapters and takes place in the same universe as my brother's fic "Harry Potter and the Eternal Promise" and my own fic "Salem Witch". Enjoy and please R&R.**

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Lucius was staring at the wall again. His eyes were blank and dull. Narcissa placed a plate of bacon and eggs before him hopefully but he barely glanced at it. Draco sighed and poured himself a cup of coffee.

Things hadn't been going well for the Malfoy family. They'd managed to avoid being thrown into Azkaban but their financial troubles had just begun. Their Gringotts account was nearly empty, the manor had started falling apart. Things were looking desperate. Draco had to take action.

"I'll be going out today," He told his mother who looked up at him briefly. She nodded silently. Lucius' head snapped towards Draco.

"Where?" He said in monotone.

"Diagon Alley," Draco replied, being careful not to say where in Diagon Alley.

"Don't worry about the money," Lucius said staring at his plate. "I have connections. We have relatives. We'll be taken care of. It'll be all right." He closed his eyes. Draco wanted to point out that all the Malfoy connections were pretty much null and void and his relatives were either dead or distancing themselves so not to tarnish their own reputations. But he didn't. His father wanted to live blissfully ignorant of the family's troubles. It was up to Draco to save his family.

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Draco Malfoy stared at the shop distastefully. It was very large and was a few blocks away from the equally gaudy Weasley Wizard Wheezes. A Grimm Little Potion Shop was painted a rather violent shade of pink and black. The words 'A Grimm Little Shop' were painted above the double doors for good measure and flashed green and purple.

Giving a resigned sigh, he opened the doors. There were three middle-aged witches examining household cleaning potions and several giggling teenagers looking at the love potions. He wrinkled his nose at that and headed towards the counter. He noticed a silver bell and rang it.

A girl rushed out of the back, carrying a large stack of cauldrons, a long sandy colored plait flying behind her. "Welcome to A Grimm Little Potion Shop, how can I help you?" She asked breathlessly. She then did a double take. Her hazel eyes widened and then narrowed.

"What do _you _want?" She demanded fiercely.

Draco looked at her just as coldly. This was Susan Bones—she'd been in his year. A Hufflepuff.

"I'm here to see Chase Van Helsing," He said tonelessly. "I've a job interview."

"And five minutes early to boot, you overachiever, you," a voice sang and both Susan and Draco's heads looked up. Chase Van Helsing was at the top of a ladder, unloading a large collection of hair growth potions. She then slid down the ladder with a thump.

Draco knew that Chase had gone to Hogwarts and was a Gryffindor. He also knew that she was close friends with George Weasley--he thought he recalled that they were dating--and the late Fred Weasley. She'd transferred to Hogwarts from Salem Institute his second year. She looked older—her dark hair seemed a little shorter and she looked a bit more mature than when he'd last seen her. Her amber eyes gave him a once-over and she clucked her tongue. She was wearing a dark red set of robes with a flowery apron over it.

"I'm gonna be honest with you Malfoy," She said firmly. "The only reason I asked you for an interview out of all the applicants was cuz you intrigued me. A Malfoy applying to work for _me_? And when I have such close connections to those blood-traitors, the Weasleys?" She then grinned mischievously.

"I'm here for the interview," Draco said stiffly.

Chase chuckled. "Well, c'mon then. Let's get this show on the road. Follow me into the back."

Draco obeyed and they entered the back of her shop. Hundreds of cauldrons and bottles filled various shelves. Chase contentedly sat at a table in the middle of the room and lazily drew a chair for Draco with her wand. He noticed a few random sketches on the table—cartoon dogs mostly, though a few showed the dog cavorting with a lioness.

"Well," Chase said finally flipping through a file. "You're no stranger to potions. You've got a really good recommendation letter from Professor Snape."

Draco said nothing.

"Experienced potioneers have been hard to come by," Chase continued. "You'll notice Susan Bones is now working here. Not that Snape ever noticed, but she was pretty good at potions herself. And I am in need of another assistant."

Draco simply looked at her.

"So tell me," Chase cleared her throat. "Why exactly you want to work here?"

Draco cleared his throat. He thought of a hundred things he could say—sappy suck-up phrases like, 'I'd be an asset to your company' and the like. But he suddenly realized that that would not cut it.

"I'll be honest," He said slowly. "This isn't exactly a dream job for me. But I need money—my family needs money. We're practically broke as it is. I need this job." He looked her directly in the eyes.

Chase seemed to consider him. She finally said, "All right, Malfoy. We'll see how this goes. You start tomorrow, nine-o-clock sharp."

Draco nodded, bowed respectfully, and left.

XXXXX

"You've got to be joking," Susan said in disbelief.

"It's always a hazard with me, to be joking," Chase admitted cheerfully. "But nope, this time I'm not. He's starting tomorrow, I've finally found a new assistant—everyone wins!"

"Chase," Susan said hurriedly. "Maybe you don't understand. He wasn't in your year, after all. He's a prat, a complete prat. Hiring Draco Malfoy is the worst thing you could possibly do for your shop!"

"Nah, I could think of a lot of things worse I could do for my shop," Chase said airily. "Oh by the way, you'll be in charge of training him."

"_What?!_"


	2. Chapter 2

Susan was in a bad temper come morning. She was very nearly late to work due to her unwillingness to leave her apartment. It couldn't he helped. She used to enjoy her work—well, of course it wasn't what she _wanted_ to do for a living, but at least it was fun. Organization, potions, writing things down, and math were some of her favorite things. Stocking up, organizing Chase's potions, taking notes on Chase's experiments, and running through the accounts were the summation of what Susan did at A Grimm Little Potions Shop.

At 9:03, she walked inside, putting up her jacket and taking a deep breath. The store opened at 9:30, which meant she had a little time before—

"You're late."

Susan whirled around to face Draco Malfoy. He stared at her condescendingly. "Miss Van Helsing said nine sharp."

Susan seethed. "First off, three minutes past nine is _not_ late. Secondly, Chase hates it when we call her 'miss' anything. Thirdly, _I _outrank you, so you shut your mouth and listen and learn."

"First thing you ought to know," Susan continued forth. "Is that I don't take kindly to attitudes, sarcasm, and especially not to spoiled little Slytherin boys who they they're better than everyone else. Are we clear?"

Malfoy glared at her. "Perfectly," He said through gritted teeth.

"Good," Susan said, satisfied that she'd annoyed him. "Then let's begin." She flicked her fingers at him, gesturing him to follow her into the back.

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The only thing pleasant about Susan Bones were her looks. If she hadn't been so venomous, Draco might've appreciated them. Her hair really was lovely, all coiled up in a braid. He liked long hair, he remembered a particularly significant argument with Pansy once for cutting hers.

Well, it didn't really make a difference. Bones was nasty, clearly in her eyes, he was nothing more than a criminal walking free. Typical Hufflepuff.

"Usually," Susan said without looking over her shoulder. "This job entails bottling, helping brew, chopping, and stocking. But nowadays, it involves being a nursemaid to Chase, and keeping her out of this room."

Draco wrinkled. "Why? It's her shop."

Susan faced him crossing her arms. "Chase is pregnant, which means the fumes that usually permeate this room are really bad for her. She's been banished to the front room, doing light stock work and register stuff. I promised George Weasley that I'd keep her away. So if you catch her in here, make her leave by any means necessary."

"George Weasley?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," Susan replied, taking a jar of caterpillars and beginning to chop them fiercely. "You'll see him here a lot, his shop is across the way and him and Chase are—well, you know."

Draco's stomach dropped slightly. He didn't want to see George Weasley here or anywhere. Frankly, he didn't want to see any of the Weasleys ever again. If there was ever a chance of running into Potter, he'd rather avoid it.

Still, remaining silent wouldn't improve matters. Awkwardly, he asked, "How is he?"

Susan's eyes narrowed. He noticed they were a steely gray. "As good as can be expected." The expression on her face clearly read, _No thanks to you lot._

Draco watched her take the chopped caterpillars and place them in a bowl. She put a cauldron of water on to boil and lit the fire with her wand. Quickly catching on that she was making a simple passion draught, he took out the caraway leaves and began to chop them as well.

"Look," He said mincing the leaves. "I'm not trying to—I'm just trying to pay my bills, all right?"

Susan didn't answer, shaving pieces of something dark Draco didn't recognize.

"I just want to work in peace," Draco said, trying to resist the urge to fling the caraway leaves in her face. "That's all."

Susan finally glared up at him. The hatred in her eyes was so intense, it actually caused Draco to take a step back.

"Yeah?" She hissed. "Tell it to my dead aunt." And with that, she stormed out of the backroom, slamming the door behind her.


End file.
